Thursday, June 26, 2008

Top Web Sites Design - Why Color is a Key Element

People who visit your website usually form an instant opinion about you and what your website offers. They can't help themselves. Their instant opinion is formed in their subconscious mind. You might wonder why this happens. This reaction comes regardless of the words and text on your web pages. The visitor need not read a single word, and yet they will form their instant opinion.

You might also have invested in some really great pictures or images on your site. I'm afraid this will carry zero influence on your visitor 's instant opinion. It also doesn't matter how great your offer is. You might be providing a superb bargain or proposition, but again this isn't going to influence the instant opinion. This is because the second your page is displayed your subconscious mind goes to work, and the instant opinion begins to form. You might wonder what it is that is so important that it has this effect on your web page visitors? This may surprise you, but the answer is colors. Your visitor 's instant opinion of your website is primarily due to the color scheme which you have used.

The reason this happens is because we all react psychological and intuitively to colors. We can't help ourselves. Colors bring us these emotions and feelings whether we want them or not! Companies have known about this years. You will find they spend millions in developing the appropriate colors for their new products and marketing campaigns. Big companies realize that colors are a psychological feature, and they can influence our reception of their marketing. The right colors can be the critical factor in the success of big company products. What webmasters have to realize, and this can be very important, is that the same color psychology applies to our web pages.

The fact is, the color scheme you use on your web pages can have the effect of causing your visitors to very quickly click away from your website. This can happen even if the copy on your website is compelling. The chances are that visitors who are put off by your colors are unlikely to read your copy anyway. But don't despair. By using a different color scheme it is quite possible to influence your web page visitor to react positively to you and your offering. This isn't a new discovery. The psychological power of colors is well known in the offline marketing world. It 's been around with us for decades. Whatever our role in life, colors convey emotions to our subconscious mind.

What we need to do in our website design is to ensure the color combination on our web pages convey a positive feelings. In essence, you might send a sense trust, warmth and belonging. The last thing you would want to do is convey feelings of rejection, distrust and coolness. The following list gives an idea of the emotions associated with their respective colors:

RED
Love, leadership, strength, sense of power, danger, excitement, energy etc

ORANGE
Courage, cheerfulness, friendliness, steadfastness, confidence, comfort, playfulness etc

YELLOW
Brightness, organization, curiosity, amusement, caution, joy, intelligence etc

GREEN
Health, harmony, money, food, life, nature, healing etc

BLUE
Patience, acceptance, peace, love, stability, tranquility, trustworthiness etc

PURPLE
Wisdom, nobility, dignity, luxury, ambition, royalty, independence etc

BROWN
Tribal, durability, primitive, nature, reliability, comfort, earthiness etc

BLACK
Formality, power, elegance, wealth, dramatic, style, sophistication etc

WHITE
Goodness, purity, simplicity, fresh, easy, cleanliness, innocence etc

In summary, the color scheme you use on your web pages need to be reflected by the product or offering you make. The reason is that your visitors' subconscious minds will look to reconcile the color with the message. If they are irreconcilable, you will find your visitors click away from your page very quickly. Which means, your visitor will be lost. It is important therefore that your website uses the right color scheme. If you do this, your website will produce the results you're looking for. Be aware, your color scheme can cause your website to make a profit or a loss.

About the Author

Brian McGregor is an internet entrepreneur and business consultant, and author of the ebook CASH COLORS. If the subject of top web sites design is of relevance to you, CASH COLORS shows how to make your web page colors work for you, as opposed to against you. http://www.cash-colors.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

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